Cyberspace can be a stormy place. And we’ve had a few knocks and blows to our digital train track through the cyber universe the past two nights. Saturday night was a scheduled maintenance by our hosting provider. We were a bit wobbly for maybe an hour. On Sunday night, the site was inaccessible again because of problems that the hosting provider experienced as a result of the maintenance done the night before. And the site was a bit more unstable and for longer.
I am assured by our technical support people that all is well and there are no problems. But if you do, for any reason, get one of these symbols, just come back a bit later. You should see three things, this symbol being the one on the far right. The left hand icon will tell you whether your computer is connected. The middle icon will tell you if the hosting in your area is working properly. And then this icon will be on the far right.
If you get this on a recurring basis, let me know. So far as I know, this was a one-time global outage and it lasted less than an hour. BUT it came on the heels of a scheduled maintenance on Saturday and the reason I’m posting this is so that people won’t think that the site is having ongoing problems. She is not. It’s just the vagueries of the internet and how all of this works.
PolitiZoom turns six years old on March 6. We have come a long way, baby, to get to where we are today and we plan to go much farther than this. Here is a draft of a symbol which we’re going to use as our mascot.
This is the basic sketch. It’s the Little Engine That Could crossed with a rocketship on a mission to save democracy. I also plan to quote Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. In fact, it’s the only thing that ever has,” on the redesigned front page.
We will launch our new look on or about our birthday, March 6, 2024.
We are immensely grateful for all the support that you’ve all given this site to allow us to keep going. We’ve been over a lot of rough terrain together. But we’ve come through all our travails because we believe in our mission and we have been able to find more of you, Democrats who want to continue to live in a constitutional democracy, to join us on our quest.
We shall overcome. We overcame Trump in 2020 and we’ll overcome him and MAGA in 2024 and beyond.
If you have any comments or suggestions about the front page’s new look (which will be basically the same, with the inclusion of our mascot symbol at the very top, above the seven lead stories of the day) please feel free to share. We welcome your views.
To quote our own Joe Murphy, Murfster, “You are the wind beneath our wings.” Thank you.
I have a comment. Please do not take this the wrong way. I totally believe in free speech. However, there are some here who comment with hate speech. It has made me come here less. And I’m probably not the only one. You know who these few people are who rant and rave and go on and on to hear themselves speak. Can you get that toned down a bit. I love the comments as a rule but I no longer read past the articles because of certain “militant”, angry, hateful, hate filled comments. Thank you for letting me have my say. If you wish to read this but not post it, I’m fine with that. I know you monitor the site. Thank you for all you do.
Could you email me at [email protected]? Tell me who you’re talking about. I don’t read every comment but I see most of them and I’m not aware of what you’re talking about. But if anything over the line is going on, I will put a halt to it.
Thank you.
Tried to send a comment but now my mail won’t work to send to you. Love the new look. But agree we also need comments moderated a bit more.
(Moderator’s Note: Thank you for speaking up. You’re correct that sometimes comments get overly intense and yes I find myself struggling with balancing free speech with site rules. I do sometimes delete comments. Sometimes they get altered, and sometimes a warning is given for both the commenter and all to see. And yes, sometimes people have been banned. Again, where to draw the line is sometimes a challenge and feedback – like yours – is important to me. I think it’s important for people to be able to have their say, even if I or others that come here don’t agree or are bothered by someone going over-the-top with their rhetoric. Still, there have to be limits sometimes. I’ll re-evaluate that “sometimes” part)
Oh thanks Denis…. glad to know. I always thought comments were well moderated here.
LOVE THE NEW LOOK.
Well, I try. Some think I should be more lenient and some think I’m too much so. I don’t like criticism any more than the next person but when well intentioned I both appreciate it and take it seriously.
I like the new logo and the quote from Margaret Mead. I hope the site continues to attract more followers.
That makes two of us.
Lovin’ the new logo! Zoom, baby zoom!
I’m thinking of a pointy tip for the engine, so it looks more like a rocket ship.
Some of the cursing should probably be cleaned-up but doesn’t bother me! I get it, it’s a angry, frustrating time. I always read comment section. IMO, I enjoy 99% of them! Carry on….luv u peeps!
I honestly haven’t seen anything I would consider over the top in the comments — but I freely admit I don’t have the time to read every single one. We will get rid of bad apples if they are here.
Some people think railing against child killers, racists, and nazis is ‘hate speech’. Not saying that is what Carol is talking about, but I’m more offended by people, who sit in comfort criticizing somebody’s language or approach, than they are outraged at those who it’s directed at. It reminds me of the ‘nice’ white southern ‘christians’ who kept at Dr. King and Malcolm X with saying play nice and talk nice, while they weren’t being oppressed, murdered, rape, etc. Anyone who thinks WW2 was won by being ‘nice’ needs to go to Arlington National Cemetery. Just saying. We are in a phucking war here!
You’ll get no argument here. We could be living under fascism if No Labels and Dean Phillips and a number of other subversive forces have their way. I’m nervous as hell about November. Not because Biden hasn’t done a terrific job, but because the country is divided and the Electoral College is insane, or Trump wouldn’t have ever won to begin with.
I know it’s picky, but there should be a cowcatcher on the engine’s front, not a car bumper and headlights. And it illustrates pushing Repugnicans’ thoughts, words, and actions out of the mainstream!
If you want to send me a picture of a cowcatcher, I’ll send it to the artist. I’m thinking of a pointy rocket ship cone. This is, after all, a fantasy ship.
Ursula…I try never to underestimate a good fantasy! Why not? Reality’s always there waiting. Ha.
We are fighting a battle in cyberspace, you see. So we need a train that can fly through the cosmos. :))